


Better On My Own (I Swear)

by 221blackandwhitestripes



Series: The Sound Of Your Heart [4]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Blow Jobs, Denial, Ed says i hate you and Oswald rolls his eyes, Enemies to Lovers, Friends With Benefits, Hand Jobs, Hate Sex, Inspired by Music, Light Angst, M/M, Neck Kissing, POV Oswald Cobblepot, Smut, Summer of Gotham, i think, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 17:54:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14816048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/221blackandwhitestripes/pseuds/221blackandwhitestripes
Summary: “FYI, you have to wait exactly five minutes before replying,” Ivy piped up, breaking Oswald’s concentration. “It’s just standard dating rules.”





	Better On My Own (I Swear)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This took longer than expected, but it's finished in time for the first day of Summer of Gotham, and that's good. I'll admit, I'm not really sure how good this is, it feels a little drawn out. Hopefully, the next piece will be better.
> 
> Also, I really miss Ivy and Penguin's dynamic, and I hope they bring it back in the new season.
> 
> Song of choice is [Girlfriend](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaRUAICLYWQ) by _Bea Miller_
> 
>  
> 
> EDIT: Ummm... AO3 somehow deleted half of this when I saved it, but its fixed now :)

 

_You text me all day._   
_Yeah, I get the message._   
_Nuh-uh, I can't hang,_   
_Why you get so defensive?_   
_And nothing's gonna change._   
_Don't get your hopes up about me, no, no._   
_At the same time, when I get lonely,_   
_Drop everything, when you see that I'm calling._   
_'Cause just for the night,_   
_I'll be what you want me to be._

“So, they just… _left?_ ” Oswald asked incredulously. Ivy nodded eagerly, smiling like an excited four-year-old. Oswald ran his tongue across the front of his teeth, his lips twisting.

“Are you mad?” Ivy questioned, tilting her head curiously.

“Yes. I am mad. Furious in fact,” Oswald lamented, taking a sip of the tea Ivy had handed him before this conversation had all begun. He wrinkled his nose at the overly saturated grass taste, swallowing anyway when he remembered how upset Ivy had been last time he’d complained about the beverage.

“Are you sure?” Ivy asked, frowning at him.

“Of course,” Oswald told her, frowning himself as he took another careful sip. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, normally when you’re mad, you throw my stuff into the wall and ruin all the furniture,” Ivy commented with a shrug. “Like a violent sparrow.”

“It’s _Penguin_ ,” Oswald spat, but then backtracked quickly as he realized how much like Ed he’d sounded when he’d said that.

 _“It’s ‘The Riddler’,”_ he’d insisted again and again like an annoying, neon-green parrot.

“Your point is?” He asked, blinking the memories away.

“Well, you seem kinda mellow,” she said, tilting her head. “Did you smoke something? If you wanted to smoke something, you shoulda just asked me. My stuff is way better than the stuff on the streets.”

“I didn’t smoke anything,” Oswald ground out.

“Well, then what is it?” Ivy asked. Oswald pursed his lips, wrinkling his nose in distaste. Much to his dismay, he’d found himself growing to care for the young, redheaded girl. He’d even go so far as to say he enjoyed her company from time to time. Which unfortunately meant he didn’t feel as inclined to lie to her as much as he would others. A shame, really.

“I won’t lie to you, so I’ll merely say that you have no reason to be concerned, and I’m sure a time will come when I can tell you the truth,” he told her simply, silently praying that she would just let it go.

“Has it got anything to do with us picking up that ex-forensics-guy last month?” Ivy asked. Oswald frowned at her, his annoyance colouring the expression. “Fine, I trust you, just don’t do anything stupid.”

“I’ll do what I like, thank you,” Oswald quipped, taking a seat in one of Ivy’s armchairs he’d procured as his own. They'd moved their base of operations back to Ivy’s after Oswald let Ed leave the safe house a few weeks ago, Oswald being afraid that the location had been compromised. Still, according to Bridgit, who'd stayed behind to keep tabs on the place, there had been no activity there whatsoever.

Oswald didn’t know how to feel about that.

Oswald’s phone buzzed in his pocket, startling him into almost spilling his tea before he set it down on a nearby side table with a huff and reached for his phone.

_**Edward:** Can I see you tonight?_

Oswald’s heart inexplicably thumped, heat crawling up his neck as he stared at the message.

“FYI, you have to wait exactly five minutes before replying,” Ivy piped up, breaking Oswald’s concentration. “It’s just standard dating rules.”

“And you would know about that, how?” Oswald questioned, scowling at her smirk. Ivy shrugged, turning back to her watering can as she began to fill it from the tap.

Oswald stared at the message. Perhaps he should say yes. Afterall, despite how Oswald hated to admit it, he _did_ want to see Edward again, sooner rather than later. However treacherous that path could be. But Oswald shouldn’t want to see him, not after what that mongrel put him through. Perhaps a front of indifference to show Ed that his interest wasn’t required nor reciprocated. A vague reply maybe, with an obvious delay to indicate that Oswald hadn’t been waiting for a message.

Oswald put his phone away decisively.

“Told you,” Ivy snickered. Oswald glared at her.

“Go feed your venus flytraps, Ivy, and stay out of this,” he snapped, shoving his hand back into his pocket in search of his phone.

“Did you know that the venus flytrap is actually called Dionaea muscipula, which means-” Ivy began excitedly.

“Go!” Oswald demanded, pointing to the exit and glaring as he watched her leave.

Turning back to the matter at hand, Oswald quickly flipped open his phone and typed out a quick message, biting his tongue hard before finally hitting SEND.

 _ **Oswald:**_ _Maybe. Could you be more specific?_

Oswald bit his lip, eyeing the message wearily as he awaited a reply. A few moments later, the phone buzzed again, signalling Ed's text as it came in.

_**Edward:** I buy Chinese food, we meet at a location of your choosing and I show you how I can undo all your buttons without using my hands._

Heat poured into Oswald’s cheeks, his grip tightening to near-breaking-point on the phone. Oswald could just see it now, Ed and him laughing over several boxes of dim-sum, talking and flirting just like old times before dissolving into heated kisses and sultry touches, coming undone in each other's hands.

But, no, that was a bad idea. Oswald couldn’t let Ed get close again, couldn’t let him believe that this… _thing_ between them was more than it really was. No, they’d laid out the ground rules and ‘casual’ relationships didn’t include dinner and conversation, that was a fact.

_**Oswald:** I’ll agree provided we meet at your place, skip dinner and go straight to dessert._

Oswald tilted his head at the message, wondering if it sounded too clichéd, but he knew for a fact that Ed typically enjoyed clichés, so he supposed it was acceptable.

_**Edward:** Very good. I’ll see you at 8:30_

Oswald wrinkled his nose. Ed was in no position to be making demands; _Oswald_ was in charge here.

_**Oswald:** Nine works better for me._

_**Edward:** Okay, nine it is_

Oswald smirked down at his phone, putting it back in his pocket decisively.

“Ivy!” He called, standing up from his chair.

“Yep?” she asked, appearing immediately. Oswald sighed; the troublesome child must have been hiding in wait, listening in. Well, it’s not like she could have heard anything, so Oswald decided to let it go just this once.

“I’m going out tonight. Text me if Fries or Bridgit come back, otherwise, don’t contact me at all. If I’m not back in twenty-four hours, something has gone wrong,” Oswald informed her, levelling his gaze at the girl to communicate his seriousness.

“Is it gonna be dangerous?” Ivy asked, an edge of concern colouring her tone.

“Perhaps,” Oswald mused. “But I think I can handle it.”

***

_Knock, knock._

Oswald tapped the head of his cane against Ed’s metal door, sniffing derisively as he stepped back to await a response. The last time he’d waited outside this door, he had still been caught up in Hugo Strange’s mind games, loopy beyond relief as he hoped and prayed that his old friend would be happy to see him.

Oswald could still remember Ed’s smile.

“Oswald!” Ed greeted immediately upon opening the door.

“Edward,” Oswald replied, the name rolling off his tongue like a gobstopper as he smirked.

“It’s ‘The Riddler’,” Ed corrected, frowning at him.

“My mistake,” Oswald told him, raising his eyebrows. “ _Ed_.”

Ed licked his lips, the force of his glare not enough to penetrate Oswald’s well-built walls as he straightened his spine.

“You’re wearing the purple,” Ed noted, pointing to the perfect knot of his necktie. Oswald tried not to wince at the blatant display of sentimentality, unsure which of them was displaying their cards for the other to see.

“I couldn’t find the broché, I’m afraid,” Oswald bit, baring his teeth in a forced smile, the muscles in his cheeks twitching.

“Purple is better,” Ed hissed, and, all of a sudden, Oswald found himself being pulled in by said tie, the steel door rolling closed behind him only for Oswald to be thrown back against it. 

“What are you doing?” Oswald spat furiously.

“You’re the one who wanted to skip dinner,” Ed reminded him, a dark smirk crawling across his face as he edged closer. “You’re the one who wanted things to be ‘completely casual’ with ‘no feelings’,” Ed recited. “So, really, I’m just giving you what you want.”

Oswald scowled at Ed’s smug expression, shoving the man’s shoulder to watch it disappear. “Well, then,” Oswald snarled. “You can either kiss me, or I can go have some fun on my own, because you, Edward Nygma, are _boring_ me.”

“I told you not to call me that,” Ed whispered, finally rushing forward to capture Oswald’s lips with his own. Oswald hummed in satisfaction, turning his head to seal their lips together firmly. He clamped a hold of Ed’s shoulders, grinning into the kiss as he quickly turned, pushing Ed around with him until their positions were reversed. Ed broke the kiss, looking up at him in shock.

“You always were so easy to push around,” Oswald teased, keeping Ed pinned with one hand whilst the other stroked down his chest teasingly, circling back up to begin undoing his shirt buttons.

“I hate you,” Ed growled.

“La la la, can’t hear you,” Oswald sang flatly, smirking as he leant in for another kiss. Ed’s lips remained firmly shut, not allowing him entrance when Oswald tried to deepen the kiss. “What’s wrong, Eddie?” Oswald asked mockingly, pulling back to glare at him. “Struggling to let go of past resentments? I get that.”

“I. Hate. You.”

Oswald bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from reacting. “I heard you before. Ed.” Edward just glared, teeth bared like a wild animal.

Oswald sighed, rolling his eyes at Ed’s childishness. “Look, Ed, we can either continue or I can leave, _or_ ,” Oswald stepped back, pulling his pistol out of its holster and pointing it at Ed’s face, “I can shoot you between the eyes like I should have done a long time ago.”

“How?” Ed grinned, a hand sneaking into his pocket with the soft clink of something metallic inside. “When I have all the bullets.”

Oswald tilted his head, watching avidly as Ed’s hand emerged with the bullets clutched inside. He must have stolen them when he’d pushed Oswald into the door. Suddenly, Ed threw the bullets up in the air, letting them rain on the pair like heavy, potentially dangerous confetti, bouncing against the steel door with tiny _clings_. Ed laughed delightedly, bending down to pick one up.

“I guess we both lose, then,” Oswald conceded, dropping the gun to the floor with a _thunk_ not unlike the dropping of his heart.

“Aha,” Ed nodded eagerly. “Now open up.” Oswald gaped incredulously as Ed reached up and pressed the bullet between his lips. “I’ve always wanted to see you eat a bullet,” he explained, his innocent tone betrayed by gleaming fox-eyes and twitching lips.

Oswald rolled his eyes, pulling back with the bullet still in his mouth, the metal resting on his tongue.

“Kith me, you bathtard,” Oswald dared, the bullet slightly obstructing his words.

“With pleasure, Sir Lisps-a-lot,” Ed jeered, thankfully stepping forward to take Oswald’s face in his hands.

“Exthcuthe me, I’m a _King_ , and you ‘ngow it,” Oswald protested grouchily, seizing Ed’s hips and capturing his lips himself. They gasped together as they both finally gave in fully to the temptation, Oswald’s tongue pushing the bullet into Ed’s mouth as he tried not to smirk. Ed quickly broke the kiss to spit the bullet away, ignoring the cling signalling the landing and returning to Oswald’s lips with a renewed gusto that sent shivers down Oswald’s spine.

“New rule,” Oswald declared, barely parting their lips as he spoke. “We can’t wait more than seven days next time before doing this.”

“Agreed,” Ed mumbled against him. “Now, shut up.”

Oswald couldn’t help but wonder for a moment if this was actually how it was going to be with them; telling each other to be quiet so they didn’t have to hear the other’s lies, Oswald’s denial flooding, _gushing_ from his mouth like a damaged pipe as he tried to convince Ed that the scar tissue of his stomach had spread to his heart until he was so desensitized, he didn’t love him anymore.

 _I don’t,_ he repeated to himself, _I don’t._

He let Ed’s tongue drown out the words, sweep away the storms of his mothers tales, ignoring the whispers and echoes of ‘true love’ to pull Edward back into a too-familiar room, bypassing the stinging in his chest as he flashed-back to the siren call of a humble melody bringing him away from the cliff-edge of self-destruction. He took the heavy-weighted memories and pushed them on Edward, pushing him down into the mattress with a smile of a shark finding its dinner, not of a bird let out of its cage.

Oswald knew it was better off like this.

_“Do you believe in fate?”_

_No._

He was just better off alone.

“Take me, Oswald,” Ed gasped into his mouth, like maybe he actually wanted him to be here, like maybe he actually needed him and Oswald could finally melt away his selfish lies like leaving ice cream out on a hot day, washing everything away until all that they had left with was a puddle of truth.

“Yes,” Oswald gasped back, hands gripping and pulling, fingers fumbling for buttons until Edward was laid bare beneath him, his disturbed hair a dark halo around his head. Oswald told himself that whatever happened, he wouldn’t let it change anything.

“Oswald, please,” Ed gasped, bucking beneath Oswald’s hands as he swept them up and down Ed’s body with a reverence he couldn’t contain.

“I’ve got you,” Oswald whispered, the words both heavy and meaningless as they fell from his tongue. He kept his gaze locked on Ed’s face, not wanting to miss one minuscule change in expression as his hands continued to wander. He’d imagined this scenario a million times before, sweet and sensual, whispered love confessions in the dead of night.

But that wasn’t how this was supposed to go.

“Ah! Oswald!” Ed cried as Oswald bent down and took his left nipple between his lips, lavishing the nub with the flicking tip of his tongue as he watched Ed’s reaction through the thin veil of his eyelashes. “Oswald, you-”

“Ed, dearie, don’t think that just because we’re on good terms, I won’t take every opportunity available to torture you,” Oswald told him, letting go of his nipple with a grin.

“God, you’re a menace,” Ed hissed, one strong, large hand, gripping Oswald by the back of his head.

“You know it,” Oswald winked, returning to his task by scraping his teeth against Ed’s reddened, sensitive flesh. Ed gasps turned to moans, his hand tightening painfully in Oswald’s hair, making him grumble. “I’m in charge,” Oswald reminded him warningly.

“Of course, my King,” Edward replied, the breathiness to his voice undermining his cheeky tone. “May I make a suggestion, however, my liege?”

“You may,” Oswald allowed, admittedly turned on by Ed’s repeated use of superior titles.

“Punishment for insubordination, sir?” Ed suggested, his voice cracking as Oswald twisted his unattended nipple between his fingers.

“You always were a damn good P.A.” Oswald remarked, grinning down at him.

“P.A.?” Edward squawked indignantly, looking up at him with a horrified expression. “I was your fucking Chief of-”

Oswald raked his nails down Ed’s thighs, leaving thin, raised white lines in his wake, thrilling at Ed’s resulting shout. “I am your king, Edward,” Oswald tutted. “I will not have you disrespecting me.”

“Yes, alright,” Ed agreed, his chest heaving as he met Oswald’s gaze once more.

Oswald smirked. “Good boy, Eddie. Now, tell your king how sorry you are.” The words smouldered like burning bridges, turning to ash on Oswald’s tongue.

“Sorry, your highness,” Ed simpered, fluttering his eyelashes up at him. “Kiss it better?”

Oswald nodded, not trusting his voice. Ed smiled, leaning up to press their lips together. Oswald sighed happily, letting Ed draw him in as the nagging thoughts and perilous feelings were washed away. Their tongues collided, spiralling and mixing, but they were oil and water and would never truly combine despite how hard Oswald wished they could become one.

Every movement seemed to happen in slow-motion while Oswald’s heart raced a mile a minute, speeding away until it was a mere dot on the horizon. Oswald gasped with it, scraping his tongue against Ed’s palate to hear him moan. Ed’s hand brushed down Oswald’s right shoulder, pressing lightly to guide him onto his side. Oswald let it, pulling Ed’s body along with him so they remained pressed together, sucking on Ed’s tongue and hearing him whine.

He hadn’t realized he was hard until he felt one of Ed’s thighs press between his own, the resulting spark of pleasure lighting him up like a firecracker. He moaned into the kiss, eventually having to pull back for air as his head began to swim.

“I want-” Ed began, the words sending shivers of need down Oswald’s spine, a promise of more, but he determinedly pushed through the haze of desire to concentrate on Ed once more.

“Tell me, Ed,” he prompted, kissing the delectable patch of skin right along Ed’s jawbone.

“I want t-to make you feel good,” Ed babbled, two hands coming up to grip Oswald’s shoulders.

“Me?” Oswald questioned before licking a stripe along Ed’s jaw to tug his ear between his teeth.

“Y-yes.”

“Well, that’s just-” Oswald scoffed.

“Oswald,” Ed interrupted him sharply. “Please. Let me.”

Oswald swallowed, one hand clenching and unclenching nervously as he pulled back to meet Ed’s serious gaze. Oswald inhaled slowly through his nose, then out through his mouth. He shouldn’t want this. But he couldn’t bear to lose it.

“Okay.” Ed grinned at him, the sly gleam in his eyes almost dark enough to make Oswald regret agreeing to it in the first place. But it also stirred something within him, some slight masochistic sliver in his gut that welcomed the trouble Ed would inevitably bring. He didn’t want the same safe and boring façade of the man he’d met all those years ago. He wanted something worse.

“On your back,” Ed instructed, and Oswald hastened to reply, gasping up at the ceiling as a hot tongue licked a stripe up his neck, mapping out the nerves there. The tongue was quickly replaced by lips and teeth as Ed sucked hard on the skin over Oswald’s pulsepoint, making him groan. Teeth sunk into the spot, electricity shooting down his spine and making his hips buck.

“You’re lucky I have a fondness for high collars and makeup brushes,” Oswald told him, his voice unexpectedly ragged. The words only seemed to fuel Ed on as he chose another spot to mark, a whispered ‘mine’ escaping his lips so quickly, Oswald wasn’t entirely sure he’d said anything at all.

Finally, Ed relented, pulling off Oswald’s skin to stare deeply into his eyes, Ed’s pupils eclipsing his irises until all colour was lost.

“You,” Ed breathed, “are wearing too many clothes.”

With that, Ed sat up, straddling Oswald’s thighs as he began to unbutton his shirt. Oswald couldn’t help but wish Ed was a little higher, his cock pulsing in his pants with a need for friction that Oswald was afraid only Ed could satisfy. But Ed seemed hellbent on drawing this out, pausing to kiss over each piece of exposed skin as it was uncovered. That was, until he reached Oswald’s stomach, where he drew back with a gasp, blinking rapidly like he was trying to communicate in morse-code.

“What is it?” Oswald asked, looking down his body. He gulped, blinking as well as he realized what had Edward so hung up: The scar. Mangled and twisted, another piece of his body healed all wrong, this one only surviving under the very minimal first aid knowledge of a girl who was technically half his age.

“It’s fine, Ed,” Oswald told him, at a loss for what else there was to say.

“It’s not,” Ed shook his head vehemently. “I wish I could-”

This was all getting into some very dangerous territory, so Oswald pressed a determined finger to Ed’s lips to just get him to shut up.

“It’s fine,” he repeated firmly. “Now, please, continue. Or do I have to do it myself?”

Ed glared at him, the words thankfully helping the man to get the ball rolling again, Ed pushing the shirt off Oswald’s shoulders before throwing it away, then shuffling back as he attacked Oswald’s belt. Oswald’s eyelashes fluttered in anticipation of what was to come, sucking in breath after breath like a diver before the drop into a dark, vast ocean.

Oswald glanced down to see what Ed was doing, then immediately wished he hadn’t when he came face to face with the image of a grinning Edward Nygma taking Oswald’s fly between his teeth before _slowly_ pulling it down.

“I-” Oswald tried to speak, but it suddenly seemed impossible as Ed pulled Oswald’s trousers down just enough to tongue him through his underwear. Oswald’s mind simultaneously combusted and screamed ‘yes, more, fuck yes, more’. Oswald was seventy-five percent sure he was saying it all out loud, and hoped to God he wasn’t.

Ed silently motioned for him to lift his hips and, with some assistance, Oswald did so, letting Ed drag his trousers and underwear together, down and off, throwing it out of eye-shot.

Which left Oswald very naked, lying on a bed beneath an equally naked Ed.

Oswald valiantly tried not to let his heart explode.

The task became a billion times harder when, after one seductive glimpse up at Oswald, Ed pushed the tip of Oswald’s cock into his mouth.

“Yes,” he hissed, his head falling back as his hands knotted in the bed covers beneath him.

Oswald didn’t know how Ed learnt how to be so good at this. Frankly, he didn’t want to know. But, within minutes, Oswald’s control was slipping from his grasp, one hand resting on the back of Ed’s head as he bobbed up and down on Oswald’s cock like he couldn’t get enough, licking and tonguing at the slit as Oswald moaned expletives and tried not to come too soon.

“So good,” he mumbled, accidentally bucking his hips and pushing his shaft down Ed’s throat.

“Oh sorry, I’m so sorry-” Oswald babbled, immediately sitting up.

“It’s fine,” Ed assured him. “I… liked it.”

Oswald’s eyebrows climbed high up his forehead as he watched Ed slide off the bed to kneel on the floor, pulling Oswald’s hips to the edge as well.

“I want you to be in control,” Ed told him, replacing Oswald’s hand in his hair before taking his cock into his mouth again. Oswald was hesitant at first, shifting his hips only slightly, too caught up in making sure he didn’t hurt Ed to actually enjoy it.

“Oswald, it’s fine,” Ed sighed, pulling off him. Oswald raised an eyebrow at him doubtfully. “Remember, I deserve this.”

That feeling Oswald had gotten when the shot had rung out, how it took him too long to realize Ed had actually missed his heart because it felt like he’d broken it anyway.

Oswald snarled, opening Ed’s jaw with his other hand while he forced Ed down, pounding into that wet heat with abandon, encouraged by Ed’s moans and the tongue swirling over Oswald’s tip with every pull-back. It didn’t take Oswald long to come at all after that, coaxed on by Ed’s unwavering, smoky gaze as he sucked Oswald down like he was a treat. Oswald’s free hand clamped over his mouth, just in case, and he finally let go, hips stuttering as he orgasmed long and hard, neon-green lights spinning and dancing in his gaze.

Oswald laid there for several minutes afterwards, not even fully aware that Ed had moved away until he reappeared in Oswald line of vision, a soft, nervous smile on his lips as he gazed down at him.

“Good boy, Eddie,” Oswald mumbled, the part of his brain that tried to control his eloquence seemingly offline. “Such a good boy. So good.”

“Thanks.” Oswald didn’t understand why Ed looked so nervous. Perhaps he hadn’t been clear enough.

“Really, Edward,” he told him, “you were wonderful. A dream.”

Ed nodded again. Oswald smiled up at him, hooking one arm over his shoulders to pull him into a long, heated kiss. His other hand swept down Ed’s front to take his cock loosely in his fist, stroking him with the same longevity of their kiss.

“Oswald, you don’t have-” Ed began, breaking their kiss.

“Hush, Eddie,” Oswald interrupted. “We both know you’re above saying such stupid things.”

Ed nodded, his hesitancy still palpable but rapidly deteriorating as Oswald continued stroking. Oswald captured Ed’s gasp with his lips as he twisted his fingers at the head, imprisoning Ed’s mounting groans as he began to shift in Oswald’s grasp, fucking Oswald’s fist with a desperation Oswald had forgotten he could possess.

Ed had been on edge for a long time it seemed, coming in Oswald’s grasp quickly with a moan so loud, Oswald would even call it pornographic. He collapsed on top of Oswald, burying his face in Oswald's shoulder. Despite how heavy he was, Oswald couldn’t help but enjoy the closeness, wishing they could just stay there.

“How do you manage to be so…” Oswald swallowed the rest of his sentence, unwilling to let the words escape and give him away. It seemed he was regaining some of his faculties. He sighed, gently shifting Ed until enough of his weight was resting on the bed so Oswald could fetch some tissues from the nightstand and clean him up.

He looked up at quiet muttering, throwing the tissues away so he could crawl back up next to Ed and hear him.

“What was that?” He asked quietly.

“Stay,” Ed whispered, and, God, Oswald shouldn’t, should even _want_ to, but…

“Okay,” he murmured, his heart fluttering more than it should after what they’d just done. “Okay.”

Ed smiled, and somehow it made the admission worth it. Ed drew back the covers of the bed and they climbed inside, Oswald keeping his back turned and his arms locked around his chest as he waited for sleep.

“Thank you.” The words floated, then whisked around the room like a kite in the wind.

Oswald pretended he didn’t hear.

***

Oswald awoke in a room that was not his own, green light swimming in his vision rather than the mute decor of Ivy Pepper’s rundown home, or the velvety blacks, purples and blues of the Manor. Oswald slowly edged himself into a sitting position, frowning at his grumbling stomach before turning to the room, recognition slowly seeping in as he noted the familiar surroundings.

Ed’s place.

Quiet muttering slowly crept in as Oswald’s other senses awakened, the sound blurring as he yawned before popping back into clarity. Oswald sighed, deciding to get up out of bed to investigate. He threw back the covers, wincing as he finally put weight on his leg. It seemed the limb didn’t appreciate Oswald’s new extracurricular activities.

He quickly pulled on the trousers he found thankfully nearby, unable to locate his shirt and deciding he’d return to the search later.

Strangely enough, the source of the muttering came from a thoroughly ruffled looking Edward who’d somehow managed to cram himself, including his long legs, in the tiny nook between the side of the couch and the wall. He was scribbling madly, what Oswald assumed were words but he honestly couldn’t tell.

“Uh, Ed?” Oswald questioned, peering down at him curiously. Ed’s gaze snapped up to him, his attention rapt as he not-so-subtly placed his notebook face-down on the floor before sliding it under the couch. 

Oswald couldn’t help but feel concerned, the _‘feel’_ part just adding another scoop to his pile of worries. This wasn’t supposed to be like that. It was supposed to… to be _fun_ and-and casual, and… well, Oswald wasn’t entirely sure, but he knew what it wasn’t about, and it wasn’t about this. Although, Ed did seem to be in a pretty delirious state. Perhaps he wouldn’t notice?

“Edward, are you… okay?” Oswald asked, straightening the line of his trousers with a small tug to give his hands something to do.

“I…” Ed appeared to be breathing too fast and he was blinking rapidly, all making the knot in Oswald’s stomach twist tighter. Was Ed sleepwalking? Having a panic attack? Is this just what Ed did now? Suffer in silence and hide away in the tiny places forgotten by the world?

“Here,” Oswald offered him a hand, bracing himself on the armrest as he helped Ed to his feet. He gently guided Ed to sit on the couch, wrinkling his nose at the dark green colour before doing the same. “Better?” he asked.

Ed sniffed, the corners of his mouth twitching down in an uncontrollable frown as his chin wobbled. Oswald didn’t let himself think about it, but something inside him _ached_. He focused down on his feet, watching his toes curl against the cold, hardwood floor rather than bare the brunt of Ed’s too-sad eyes.

“Oswald, I-” It was shaky and tinged with repressed sobs, and the last string of resolve in Oswald’s heart snapped like a well-used tire-swing.

“A hug?”He proposed, quick and rushed, all the air escaping him at once as he met Ed’s gaze once more. “For old times sakes?”

Ed nodded, burying his face in Oswald’s shoulder as he slowly wrapped him in his arms. He started muttering again, but Oswald gently soothed away the words, rocking them back and forth with soft shushes like the kind his mother had given him when he was a child. Eventually, Ed seemed to go lax in Oswald’s hold, snuggling into the crook of his neck as he breathed steady breaths. Oswald lost himself of the rhythm of rocking, not even noticing when his hand had come up to pet Ed’s curly hair.

It was all interrupted rather abruptly by the loud ringing of Ed’s cellphone.

Oswald did his best to mask his disappointment, slowly letting go of Ed to allow him the room to snatch up the phone.

“Hello?” Ed greeted as he flipped the phone open. Oswald watched as Ed’s complexion suddenly went very pale, his hand curling into a fist where it rested on his knee. He quickly held the phone away, coving the receiver.

“Oswald, I’m afraid I’m going to have to take this call. I’ll just… pop into the bathroom, if that’s alright?” Ed looked at him hopefully.

“Of course!” Oswald answered, his cheer feeling false somehow as he gritted his teeth. “I should get dressed anyway.

“Oh.” The spark in Ed’s eyes diminished slightly and Oswald wondered if Ed was just as disappointed as he was. “Just… don’t leave without saying goodbye.”

“Okay,” Oswald agreed. Ed quickly hurried out of the room, closing the bathroom door with a click. Oswald resigned himself to getting ready for the day, locating his discarded shirt and frowning at the wrinkles. He put it on anyway, locating the closest reflective surface he could find, (in this case; the television) in order to put his hair to rights.

He wondered if it would be too much to stay for breakfast, but quickly decided that they’d already had enough overly-familiar contact this morning and it was for the best that he’d return to Ivy’s for a meal. Who knows, maybe by then he’d have worked up enough of an appetite to actually finish that dandelion crap she called food.

God, Oswald missed Olga’s cooking.

The bathroom door opened, Oswald catching the tail-end of Edward’s conversation as he signed off.

“-best that I just meet with you in person… Everything is perfectly fine… Yes, goodbye.” Ed sighed as he hung up. “Sorry that took so long. Do you want breakfast or something?”

“No, no,” Oswald insisted quickly. “I think it’s best that I get back to my people. I have a couple rogues to round up.

“I can’t pretend to understand what you mean by that, but I wish you well.” Ed nodded, the formality of the gesture looking more like a bow. “I’ll see you soon. I hope.”

“We’ll see,” Oswald replied. He could very well die from the consummation of too many greens in the next few hours.

“It was fun.” They seemed to have gotten stuck into some kind of rut, so Oswald opted to stalk forward and take Ed’s face in his hands before kissing him soundly on the lips.

“Punishment isn’t over yet,” he murmured, grinning at Ed’s agape expression before turning and leaving, rolling the door closed behind him. He almost stumbled over his cane which was lying there on the ground. Oswald must have dropped it last night after Ed had taken him by surprise. He picked it up, wiping the dust off the penguin-shaped head before continuing on, letting the momentum of the night’s activities carry him down the stairs.

He sent a silent prayer to God that his latest near-death experience wouldn’t be caused by Ivy’s choice of nourishment.

_I'm not a party or plan; I don't need your love._   
_I'm not a stranger to your touch, but it's not enough._   
_Maybe honesty is missing here?_   
_But our bodies say it easier._   
_I don't wanna be your girlfriend,_   
_I just wanna play with your hair._   
_When we get up in the morning,_   
_I'll be better on my own, I swear._   
_I don't wanna be your girlfriend,_   
_I just wanna play with your hair._   
_I prefer to tell the truth,_   
_But I'm not brave enough to lose what's already there._

 

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know if any progress has been made. Oh, well, I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> Just FYI, as well as doing odd Summer of Gotham prompts here and there, I'm planning on participating in riddlebird week which starts on June 10th. I can't wait :)
> 
> As always, any kudos or comments are greatly appreciated.


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